Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by drowland:

Had at the Hunahpu release party as a part of RBWG 2010. Wow this is good. Deep black pour with a wavering khaki head that fades. The aroma and flavor is amazing bourbon, wood, and stout characteristics, including rich dark fruits and roast. This stuff is awesome.

More User Reviews:

4/5 rDev -11.5%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cigar City Takes NYC event at Rattle 'N' Hum. on Tap.This thick mouthfeel of CC, with bourbon aromas. Still very good as the Marshall is, but you must like bourbon.Nice understated carbonation by the bar, who favour casks and not pumping one with gas.

Three of us BA guys sampled this while a forth BA compared our comments to the reviews about the beer. We nailed it, matchingour comments about the flavors, smell and mouth feel to the reviews. This rates as one of the best beers of the year among us four who get together every Wednesday to taste beers we bring.This is a must try beer regardless of your beer preferences.Can't wait to get more, which I'm trying to right now.

black as night with a thin tan head on top. Not hanging around long it faded back into the abyss and left some light side glass lacing

Lots of dark fruity notes which suprised me, but melted into rich vanilla and oak like notes that wrapped around a soild base of chocolate and coffee. Very well done. There are loads of vanilla and oak notes that wash across the tongue first, filling the palate and really exploring the full spectrum of taste here. Chocolate and coffee move in but then the suprise, nice notes of plums maybe? Perhaps figs, where this fruit like note is coming from I am not sure but it is more then a welcome sight here and really serves to thicken the flavor. A long drawn out finish winds down with a light hint of vanilla and cocoa dacing on the tongue.

Big thanks to Tempsperdu for hand bottling this one for me. Didn't think I would ever get to try this one.

A- Pours a syrupy black with a thin mocha-colored head. I'm guessing the hand-bottling made the carbonation a little lower, but from what I have heard/read, the carbonation is kept intentionally low on this one when served.

S- Nice sweet bourbon heat with big vanilla notes. Huge leathery, tobacco aroma with some port notes as well (I assume also from he hand bottling and potential oxidation issues.) Some wood notes separate from the bourbon barrel. Possibly some prunes as well.

T- To start off, a fairly substantial charred/toasted character, which quickly gives way to the big bourbon flavors. Chocolate, vanilla, oaked, some definite oxidation (have to assume from hand bottling) which makes this one taste almost pre-aged (and now I would love for them to bottle this so that I could age it.) The saltiness and bitterness nicely compliment the sweet, dark fruits and strong bourbon character. The bourbon flavors are all there, but without any sort of impressionable heat.

M- Nice and viscous. As I have already brought up, probably slightly lower carbonation than intended due to method of consumption, but nothing that would drop the score.

D- This one goes down nice and easy. Hard to believe that its 11% and barrel-aged and still tastes so smooth. I love the big tobacco flavors in all of their beers and this is just another great beer from a stellar brewery.

Pours near black with a very thin mocha head that recedes quickly with some pretty good legs. The nose is fairly strong bourbon along with chocolate, coffee, roast, and a bit of booze. Taste melds the original beer's character with bourbon quite well. Feel is pretty thick with some booze. Not as good as the BA versions of Hunahpu's bit still quite tasty.

A - Bowling-ball black. Less obviously viscous than the other barrel-treated Zhukovs and Hunahpus, and fairly still comparatively.

S - The Bourbon is slightly hot on the nose, and obscures some of the finer points of Zhukov's aromatics. Espresso, vanilla, charred oak and anise permeate the heavy booze. Awesome; not subtle.

T - It tastes more sublime than expected. I guess the booze shares a lot of flavor commonality with the Zhukov, and so it melds quite well. This beer is sweetly smoky, with some vanilla and semi-bitter notes of coffee and chocolate, which have been mellowed by the barrel, and finishes with some hot liquor and a bit of licorice at the end.

M - It has the viscosity of dirty 20w-50 in an Alaskan winter. The flavor lingers and lingers...

D - The nose is a bit hot, and is unrelentingly so, even as it warms up, but the taste is ridiculous.

Usually not a fan of these Bourbon Aged Imperials, but this one was smoooth..

Smelled like nothing but bourbon at first, big alcohol aroma - followed by chocolate & coffee.. hint of toffee and some sweet molasses.

Poured dark as night, but the mouthfeel was smooth as silk. Little alcohol burn, but immediate bourbon and chocolate taste. I've had KBS before, and this one is even smoother and less harsh than that. While still being 11% , the alcohol is well hidden, and blends in well. At the end you get that coffee and sweet toffee taste. Just really well put together.

Loved every second of it. As it warmed up it was almost perfect. This would probably get some perfect scores from Bourbon lovers, but I found it a bit strong up front, but overall very drinkable. Well done!

Bottle courtesy bret27. Pours black as ink with a super-dark brown head, might even be darker than regular Zhukov. Aromas of chocolate cookies, oak, and molasses, with a bourbon character that doesn't take over but rather complements everything else. Flavor is still very roasty and bitter but it's toned down compared to the base beer, which is exactly what the base beer needed. Unsweetened chocolate, oak, smooth bourbon. Mouthfeel is still rather astringent. Thick and oily on the palate. A huge, huge beer.

Pours pitch black and completely opaque without even the faintest hint of lighter color when held to a light source. Two finger thick frothy dark chocolate coffee colored head with excellent retention, only slowly fading into a thick lasting cap. Chunks of soapy lacing left behind.

Sweet bourbon aroma with a lot of earthy oak and subtle hints of vanilla which are a nice balance to the very roasty chocolate malt notes. Subtle hops along with roasted coffee and toffee.

Chewy medium body that is only the fuller end of the spectrum with a lot of tight carbonation, possibly over carbed with a lot of intense roasty flavor up from that dominates and lingers throughout into a bone dry finish. Hints of chocolate malt and toffee but this beer is all about the roasted notes. The bourbon presence is faint with subtle sweet alcohol heat, vanilla and oak. The chocolate notes are more prominent as it warms. Decent but a bit too roasty for my liking.

Who goes to a beer realease and only hits 11% and up? Me apparently. This is aka Four Roses. It is almost indescribaobly good but I'll try.

Pours an exceedingly dark brown. After a full hour, head is still a film of dark tan. Good lacing.Smell is amazing. Malty fruitcake in a glass. Wheat, candy sugars, slight smoke and soy. Great balance.Taste is everything you expect. This may be the best beer I've ever had. I can not completely describe this, there are too many flavors to account for. Sweet, malty, soy, smoke, caramel, dark fruits. Full-bodied, lightly effervescent. Rich, smooth, creamy. Absolutely magnificient.